Chopstick Dreams and Bamboo thoughts

Listening to my new Oriental Lounge CDs I sit and type. It's Sunday, Februay 4th, and I'm thinking what I'm going to do first today. Yesterday, I worked all day at school observing and choosing the next new group of one year olds for the August 2007/2008 playgroup class at my school. Very tired and haggered, I go through my checklist quickly and carefully. Us teachers, had the pleasure or should I say, the dreaded task of trying to select 50 children out of a pool of 500 wonderful and beautiful boys and girls in order to fill the spots for the August playgroup class. Pleasant, it was not! Challenging, difficult and unfair it was. But, I save this story for another entry as for the coming weeks, as I hope to feature a blog on schools and the culture of education here in Hong Kong. A teacher by the name of Winnie, who is a local native of Hong Kong but grew up in California has offered to help me information about the world of competitive education here. Winne is another english teacher with whom I work and together we will talk and discuss education and schools in Hong Kong; she will be a wealth of information to me and my blog!

As time is passing, I am begining to appreciate and I am being able to see the beauty in Hong Kong that the city has to offer. Last weekend, my roomate Lauren and I went and visited Hong Kong Park in the area of Central. In Central, and in Hong Kong, there are many trendy pockets of activity and culture going on, you can only end up discovering them when you are out and about exploring on that particular day. A beatiful park is located in the heart of this Asian mecca, offering many garden delights. Every time I go out to shop, sight see or on my way to work, I notice something different or unique about this place I am now calling my place of residence. For instance, I am still amazed and do not understand the idea of the bamboo scaffolding that surrounds a building being constructed. We have metal scaffolding to support workers who are building high rises. The chinese have trees, supporting themselves, hundreds of feet in the air.....how is that possible, I think.

Usually on my way to work, I make the effort to leave enough time to walk through a section of another park in the city. In this park, you are able to see many people early in the morning practicing Tai Chi; a very soothing, relaxing way to kickstart my morning. And get this, there are even doggy-doo containers attached to poles at random street corners so that you don't have to carry around your puppy's poo around while you stroll around the cityt. Now, on my way home from work, I always take note of the working class in Hong Kong. Alot of the working men and women are extreemly well groomed and often display the elements and practices of Feng Shui right down to their dress. Black, Black and more Black....a sea of blackness in color for clothing worn by Hong Kongers. Also, Clean lines, minimalist design in fashion, haircuts, and make-up; a very good flow of energy going on in appearances, so I seem to think so. And of course, only the best of the best; Fendi, Versace, Louis V, Chanel and too many other designers to mention. Alot of the well-to-do people reek of money and display it rather loudly as they hurry down the street.

I've noticed that the cars in Hong Kong are either Toyota, BMW or Benz. Toyota seems to dominate as the car of choice, but BMW and a M.Benz follow closely in the lead. Again, only the best of the best I thought even when it comes to the vehicles, as I passed by a Bentley car dealership on my way to find a Body Shop cosmetic store in the city's downtown.
Well, I think I've painted a vague outline of a city sounding a little like New York in the US. Yes, it has the components of a cosmopolitan city, but with an oriental flavor that is beginning to be savored by my palate each day.

Well, in about two weeks everyone, it will be Chinese New Year and I have eleven days vacation time. Most english teachers take this time to travel and relax. Myself, I will not travel this vacation time, I will enjoy my first ever Chinese New Year in the city, exploring and relaxing. So, until next week, keep well and stay happy! Thinking of you all!

By your local expat, Ronda

P.S. So sorry folks, but Pictures were hard to load this time. Check back soon for more photos of Hong Kong Park!

It's been one month today and I can still remember the smell of incense hit me in the throat as I dragged my three heavy bags up five flights of stairs at 408 Lockhart Rd. No evevator, no help, just me and the sacks. It was Saturday and I was so glad to leave the small and cramped hotel room and head to my new home and start unpacking my life from those three bags. My roomate was still in Thailand when I arrived at the aptment, so I unpacked as fast as I could so I could get settled in right away. Most of my afternoon was spend placing things away and investigating my new home or shall I say compact house in a box. Lots of new reneovations and very clean, but very space conscience compared to your average two bedroom, Canadian apartment standard. My bedroom or where I sleep can be compared to a celebrity clothing closet and I can probably take three large hops and be at the other end of my apartment. I'm conviently located in the latter end of Wan Chai and so close to the Causeway Bay shopping district. Wan Chai is a very unique area but the noise sometimes is hard to ingore, especially the annoying taxi drivers that honk their horn like obsessive compulsives every night right outside my roomates bedroom window. Yes, it is tres busy. Lauren (my roomie gal from NS) and I are only about two blocks from Causeway Bay, a mega size sprall of endless clothes shopping, cell phone shops and eateries. Oh, did I mention shops; yes, there are many hardware shops. If you are ever in need of some new toilets, or taps, just walk down the stairs of my apartment, turn either right or left and you can have your choice of any style, any shape, any size toilet you want. My friend Andrew, says we live in the toilet district and before coming here I figured he was refering to the smell, but no, he was being serious. There are many, many toilet shops which one can shop! A real plumbers dream!

Most of my first week was spent trying to settle in and taking in all of the novel things in my environment. There are still many undiscovered nooks in my immediate and distant surroundings, but as time goes on, I eventually get around to scoping things out. Hong Kong offers a variety of interesting sensory stimulants when walking about. For instance, the huge variety of smells. Just an aside though about the air here, the air quality in Hong Kong is total crap and it's starting to show in the skin on my face. Walking down the street, the smell of sewer is very strong and prevalent. And some of the street food smells passing by the dia pai dongs (mini food stalls or back room eateries) reek with the most rank and sour smell. I later found out what the odd looking things are boiling away all day in those wok-looking pots and surprise, surprise, it's animal innards! Yay! Gee, I love that smell, NOT! Anyway, the waves of sewer smells or the whiff of animal innards, hit you like the ocean swells rolling in from sea; one right after the other, crashing into you every 30 seconds with not much of a break in between sets. If it's not the smells that slam you in the face, it's the hoards of people that will plow you over while trying to cross a busy intersection or street corner. I have never witnessed crowds of people like the ones I experience coming home from work crossing Canal Rd. East to Hennesey Rd. during rush hour or on Sundays. Sunday's have to be the worst for packs of people. The Phillipino Amah's (nanny/housekeepers) who employed by some of the more prosperous people in Hong Kong, are given Sunday's off as their day of rest. Some of the places on Hong Kong Island are the most densley populated in the world and I can say for certain, I agree.

Now, for my place of work, well I would like to save that for another entry at a later date. I will explain my place of work or Victoria International Kindergarden perhaps on my second or third entry, so stay tuned.

Apart from the cultural adjustment, I have been experiencing some emotional challenges and shocks that I never dreamed of going through all over again. Missing my family and some friends brings back vivid memories of my very first time away from home, in Halifax during my first year of university. But, good news, my emotional and psychological state have been subdued the past week and a half after I had time to process all that smacked me in the face since my arrival.

The past two weekends, I have been going to the huge Starbucks located on Leighton Rd. to re-establish my morning coffee/paper/people-watching ritual that I enjoy so and have done many times in Halifax at Uncommon Grounds on SouthPark St. or at the Trident bookstore/coffee shop on Hollis St. It's a great coffee shop to relax, see other westeners and also to take in a bit of Hong Kong community flavor. But, as I go exploring more and more each day, I am stumbling on more coffee shop/ cafe's where I thing I will enjoy my weekend coffee just as much.

Hong Kong still carries on with a British way and clearly displays it's former British presence from the road designs and the cars HKers drive. It's bizarre the number of one way streets in the city. Most times you have to drive around in so many circles to get from point a to point b, and the drivers, did I mention the drivers???? Horrible! I recommend taking gravol before entering a cab or on the public transit busses. Aside from the wierd and bizarre things I see in the city, there are a couple of beautiful parks within the city itself and some of the most exotic greenery and flowers on display. I find peace and solace in these parks as the thoughts of nature and planting bring me back to my plants and flowers I have nurtured back at my mom's place in Cape Breton.

Currently, it's about 9:20 on Friday evening and I am in my jammies with a sore throat. This fast, go-go lifestyle and settling in is starting to catch up with me. A couple of early sleeps and some relaxation time this weekend should help remedy the exhaustion I have been experiencing since I left Vancouver. I still have many, many more details and excursions to share. I'm hoping to share at least one blog entry a week with you explaining some of the feelings, perceptions, and outings that I have been experiencing in Hong Kong. So check back on Sundays, and hopefully, I'll have more news and information posted and let me know what you think. Hope you all enjoy!

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